By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com– As of 2:15 ET, Brent was at $115.06 a barrel, or up 6.61% so far today. WTI was at $109.25 a barrel, or up 5.98%.
Both benchmarks for crude oil soared today as EU nations mulled sanctions on Russian oil, following the embargo already enacted by the United States.
Oil prices were also higher after drones and missile strikes on Saudi facilities, launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The attacks hit a petroleum products distribution terminal, a natural gas plant and a refinery owned by Aramco (SE:2222), Saudi’s state-run petroleum company.
At 2:15 ET, natural gas futures were trading at $4.892, or up 0.60% today. The price of natural gas continues to be driven by uncertainty from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It remains unlikely that Europe will be able to replace Russian gas, despite plans by Germany to substitute Russian imports with Qatari LNG. Today’s gains saw the commodity regain losses from late last week after forecasts of warm weather in North America.
Prices for both fossil fuels continue upwards despite the Biden administration’s Friday announcement that it would resume plans for oil and gas production on federal lands, marking another seesaw from the administration on the climate-contentious issue.
RBOB gasoline futures, which closely track the price of crude, were at $3.37, or up 4.17% so far today.
All currencies USD, unless noted otherwise.